Starting 'Em Young or Slowly Rearing 'Em Up
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 27 Apr 2021
Pacquiao (R) and Casimero, a class of their own.
Per #BoxingTalk Philippines, nine of the country's ten youngest world boxing champions became so before they reached the age of 22.
Two of them namely Manny Pacquiao, 42, and Johnriel Casimero, 32, are still active and world boxing champions to these days.
Basically, there are two types of special fighters.
One is those who started boxing at very young age, some as early as 14 or 15 and achieved peak or prime in their twenties, tapering off with their career by their thirties.
Best example of this is Puerto Rican great Wifredo Benitez who become the youngest world champion at the age of 17, achieving the feat in 1977 beating long time WBC junior welterweight champion Antonio Cervantes of Colombia. Benitez went on to win world championships at welterweight and junior middleweight by the time he was only in his early and mid 20s. But his career was practically over by his early 30s.
Another is those who either started their careers early or late but only blossomed already in their mid or late twenties, also called late bloomers, their fighting days declining only in their mid or late 30s.
There are many examples in this category but for the sake of comparison, we can cite Kid Pembele himself, Antonio Cervantes (born December 23, 1945), who was a former two time world Jr. Welterweight champion.
Cervantes started boxing in 1964 at the age of 18 but only became world champion in 1972 at the ripe age of 27 beating Antonio Frazier of Panama. He successfully defended the title 16 times. Cervantes fought 21 world title fights, keeping the 140 pound title for almost 8 years.
Then, there is a third type of special fighters who started boxing early or late or just right but showed capability to sustain their world class and championship careers well into their advanced age.
To this rare classification belongs Bernard Hopkins and Manny Pacquiao, two fighters many experts believe are the only boxers of the past thirty years who are deserving of the all time greats consideration.
Hopkins was neither young nor old when he became undisputed world middleweight champion in the 1990s, breaking the record for title reign and title defenses. But he became the oldest to win world title, at light heavyweight when he beat Canadian defending WBC and lineal world titlist Jean Pascal in 2011 at the age of 46.
Pacquiao started boxing at his mid teens and became one of the youngest Filipino world champion in 1998 at days less than age 20 when he knocked out Thai Chatchai Sasakul to wrest the WBC and lineal world flyweight title. In his twenties, he won world titles at super bantamweight (IBF), featherweight (IBO, Ring lineal), super featherweight (WBC, Ring lineal) lightweight (WBC) and super lightweight (IBO, Ring lineal).
By the time he was in his 30s, he won titles at welterweight (WBO thrice) and super welterweight (WBC). He was already in his 40s when he won the WBA regular and later super belts at welterweight. He is still designated as WBA champion in recess at welterweight, making him the oldest reigning world boxing champion.
Handlers of promising Filipino boxers with potentials to become world champions therefore have these precedents to guide them in developing their wards.
For information, the following are the country's youngest world boxing champion and their respective age:
1. MORRIS EAST, 19 years, 1 month, 1 day
2. MARVIN SONSONA, 19 years, 1 month, 9 days
3. BEN VILLAFLOR, 19 years, 5 months, 15 days
4. MANNY PACQUIAO, 19 years, 11 months, 17 days
5. ERIC JAMILI, 20 years, 6 months, 29 days
6. DODIE BOY PENALOSA, 21 years, 21 days
7. ROBERTO CRUZ, 21 years, 4 months
8. PANCHO VILLA, 21 years, 10 months, 15 days
9. JOHNRIEL CASIMERO, 21 years, 11 months
10. ROLANDO BOHOL, 22 years, 20 days
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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